1. Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to bullet constructions and, more particularly, is concerned with a dividing bullet with a weakened longitudinal seam extending along a longitudinal mid-plane of the bullet for producing two projectile halves upon impact with a target.
2. Description of the Prior Art
A bullet for use in hunting and personal defense ideally will travel accurately in flight from the gun to the target and upon impact with the target deliver a substantial shock and then penetrate the target body creating a wound channel of substantial cross-sectional size before exiting the target. The most violent, shocking, destructive and largest wound channels are made from a large cross section perpendicular to the axis of travel within the target. Also for a bullet to be effective it must retain as much of its weight after impact as possible so that it will maintain the momentum necessary to force its way through the target to make deep penetration.
Typical conventional hunting and personal defense bullets are made with a soft lead core projectile and a copper jacket covering all but about 10% of the projectile at the tip. Upon striking the target, these bullets are designed to deform into a mushroom-shape, making a large wound channel in the target body and providing substantial impact shock. However, a drawback of the mushroom-shape deformation is that substantial fragmentation of the bullet results, for example from about 40% to 50% of the bullet weight. The small fragments or pieces of the lead and copper jacket that break away from the bullet serve no useful purpose and reduce the overall weight retention of the bullet, thereby reducing its penetration capability and in many cases causing no exit wound. Substantial penetration is necessary for the bullet to completely pass through all of the vital organs, and the exit wound is important to leave a large blood trail.
Many different bullet designs have been proposed in the prior art. Representative examples of these bullets are disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 90,732 to Curtis, U.S. Pat. No. 122,620 to Maduell, U.S. Pat. No. 221,249 to Nowlan, U.S. Pat. No. 275,674 to Littlepage, U.S. Pat. No. 948,148 to Schenk, U.S. Pat. No. 2,661,694 to Allen et al., U.S. Pat. No. 3,097,603 to Harper, U.S. Pat. No. 3,138,102 to Meyer et al., U.S. Pat. No. 3,282,214 to Briscoe, U.S. Pat. No. 3,665,861 to Jaslow, U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,836,110 and 4,947,755 to Burczynski and U.S. Pat. No. 5,528,989 to Briese. However, it appears likely that most of these prior art bullets would meet with only limited success, if any at all, due to one or more of the following drawbacks: the multiplicity of parts forming the bullets would enhance rather than diminish their tendency toward fragmentation and achieve poor penetration; and the wedged, lopsided or asymmetrical shapes of the bullets would cause a wobbling of the bullet during flight and thus reduce bullet accuracy to the target as well as achieve poor penetration in the target.
Consequently, a need still exists for a bullet that more nearly approaches the ideal parameters set forth above by overcoming the aforementioned drawbacks of the prior art bullets without introducing new drawbacks in their place.